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Comment by ubertakter

Yeah. Depending on the spectrum, the telescope might need to be really big. Not to mention at the moment a telescope in orbit would hard, if not impossible, to service.

Perhaps a review of telescope design is in order: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telescope https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_telescope

Building large telescopes is hard enough. Putting them in orbit just adds to all the costs. Look at the James Webb Telescope (which still hasn't been launched). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Webb_Space_Telescope

It seems possible to launch multiple small telescopes and operate them as one large scope using aperture synthesis. I don't know if there are any existing designs or plans for this.

Also: somewhat ninja'd, see other replies as well.

parent ubertakter 6 years ago

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